In 2013, three inspiring visionaries Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created a Black-centered political movement project called #BlackLivesMatter. It was in response to the acquittal of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) grew into a global network with more than 40 chapters. Members organized and built local power to intervene when state violence occurred in Black communities. They’ve not only been a voice but a much-needed response to significant gaps in movement and leadership.
In recent years, there have been troublesome worries about the controversies and dysfunction that have rocked the movement. New ramifications over a legal battle have raised serious questions about the fundraising piece of the movement. There also are fears that the best years could be behind BLM at a time when racism is being normalized by far-right Republicans at a rapid pace. There are questions about whether this could be the beginning of the end.
After 10 years, about half of U.S. adults say they support the BLM movement, according to the Pew Research Center. Three years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, two-thirds expressed support for the movement. Of Black adults, 81 percent say they support the movement, compared with 63 percent of Asian adults, 61 percent of Hispanic adults, and 42 percent of white adults. White adults are more likely to describe the movement as divisive and dangerous, and the least likely to describe it as empowering.
Transformative national change has proven to be fleeting. We have been faced with inflation, reduced public safety, wars, the overturn of Roe v. Wade. All of these things, while critical, have taken over the atmosphere, and support for BLM has diminished. While police reform and federal voter protection both failed to pass the Senate, the founders of Black Lives Matter have been drawn into controversies about how they handled money. Worse, there are allegations that they mismanaged millions of dollars after having purchased (in cash) a $6 million home in Southern California with donated funds.
The purchase was not reported, and BLM’s leadership had hoped to keep the house’s existence a secret. Documents, emails, and other communications about the 6,500 square foot property as well as day-to-day operation suggest that it was handled in ways that blurred boundaries between the charity and private companies owned by some of the leaders. It creates the impression that money donated to the cause of racial justice has been spent in ways that benefited the leaders of Black Lives Matter personally.
Black Lives Matter is a decentralized movement that pushes for racial justice and an end of police brutality. It’s also a collection of individual organizations. One of those organizations is the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a nonprofit registered with the Internal Revenue Service. Until recently, it served as the main fundraising piece of BLM and accepted the majority of donations to the movement and distributed that money to activists working in dozens of official chapters.
Patrisse Cullors stepped down from her leadership role with the foundation, and a new board of directors, most of them more experienced in helping manage large nonprofits, stepped in. They had a different vision for BLM and pushed forward with implementing it. Not everyone was happy about the change, so new chapters of BLM were started to form Black Lives Matter Grassroots. The result? A legal battle in Los Angeles Superior Court. BLM Grassroots sued the BLM foundation, focusing on Bowers, and alleging misrepresentation, mismanagement, and financial malfeasance. But in late June of this year, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, resolving nothing and leaving BLM Grassroots and the BLM foundation more or less permanently at odds, as an appeal could take years.
Now BLM Grassroots has registered with the IRS as a nonprofit, too — and has started accepting donations. Both organizations stake a claim to being the real Black Lives Matter.
Black liberation is about dismantling racist, oppressive systems that were built to suppress Black people and keep them from flourishing. With that being said, Black liberation never dies. The notion of Blackness is more than just a reference to skin color but can be applied to all people of color who have a history of oppression.
Black organizations seem to always be critiqued more closely and more harshly. It speaks to how deeply embedded anti-Blackness is within the culture of the United States. While hashtags with people’s names have become symbols of the Black Lives Matter movement, one key fact drives it — Black people are about three times more likely than white people to be killed by police when they are unarmed and not attacking, and as in the case of Trayvon Martin with whom this all started, and are more likely to be profiled because of race.
I believe we’ve all reached a point where we don’t expect much from America; it has a deep capacity for change but a superficial desire for it. James Baldwin said in his essay “Journey to Atlanta” from the book Notes of a Native Son, “…wise desire not to be betrayed by too much hoping.” This generation are the ones who most believe that change is not only possible but imminent, only to have America retreat. As the fullness of Black Lives Matter hangs in the balance, we can only hope they will not do the same.
